TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? Indiana State's Erica Moore took advantage of the good weather Friday afternoon, winning two events and placing second in the other two to finish the opening day of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in first place in the women's heptathlon.
Moore opened with a 14.46 finish in the first heat of the 100 meter hurdles but placed second behind Wichita State's Salena Burns, who won the second heat in 14.38. The Sycamore junior came back to set a personal best in winning the high jump with a leap of 5'6.5” and then won the shot put with a heave of 37'4”.
In the 200 meters, Moore ran away from the field in the first heat with a time of 24.91. Just like the 100 meter hurdles, Moore ended up second as Northern Iowa's Dani Stipe won the second heat in 24.83 to edge Moore.
Moore is on top of the leaderboard for the heptathlon with 3,271 points with Stipe second with 3,115 points and Burns third with 2,973. ISU's Dana Sander is currently in seventh place with 2,755 points. She was second in the shot put with a heave of 36'8.5”, had finishes of 15.41 in the 100 hurdles and 26.82 in the 200 meters, and had a leap of 4'11.5” in the high jump.
The women's heptathlon concludes on Saturday with competition in the long jump, javelin throw and 800 meters starting at 12:00 p.m. (ET).
Indiana State has two competitors in the top five of the men's decathlon with Anthony Bertoli fourth with 3,572 points and Steven Swinford fifth with 3,545 points. Swinford won the 100 meters with a personal best time of 10.98 while Bertoli won the 400 meters in 48.38.
In the men's javelin competition, Curt Sunderland and Joshua Williams finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the event which was interrupted by nearly an hour due to lightning in the area. Sunderland had a throw of 175'7” to finish sixth in the event while Williams had a throw of 174'6” to finish seventh.
In the men's 10,000 meter run, ISU's Eric Schulz finished third with a time of31:03.42 with teammate Craig Padgett finishing fifth in 31:18.78.
Kayla Alexander scored the Sycamores lone point in the women's 10,000 meter run with an eighth place finish in 38:48.32, an event that began in a steady rain and finished in very humid weather.
The 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships continue Saturday and Sunday. Action begins at 9 a.m. (ET) both days.
